博物館與圖書館雖然是各自發展獨立的學科領域，但本質與發展卻極為相似，互為主客。若以博物館為主體，其附屬之圖書館也可說是博物館發展中隱形的幕後推手，兩者之間關係非常的密切。 以博物館附屬圖書館的性質而定，大都被定義為專門圖書館，其圖書蒐藏方向大多也是以博物館之主體定位為標的，並配合博物館發展做有效的蒐集與配合。支援包括博物館的研究、展覽、典藏、文化教育推廣、文創行銷等等。除此之外，圖書館本身的技術、流通、讀者服務等工作，諸如圖書與期刊的採購、圖書分類與編目、圖書的借閱、對讀者提供的參考諮詢等的利用服務，還有為增加多元館藏，節省經費的各館之間的圖書交換贈送之業務等，這些都必須做到面面俱到，所以附屬圖書館說是博物館發展的幕後英雄，一點也不為過。 如何積極展現博物館附屬圖書館（以下簡稱博圖）的價值，應是博圖存在最重要的意義，也是必須思考的重要課題，希望身為博圖這些默默耕耘的同業們，在其做為一個博物館人以及圖書館人雙重身分的同時，也能創造出屬於博物館附屬圖書館工作的價值與成就感。

Museums and libraries have developed independently in their respective disciplines, but, in their nature and development, their relationship to one another is extremely similar to that of host and guest. If a museum is the host, its affiliated libraries can be said to be an invisible driving force for its development. The relationships between the two are very close. The nature of an affiliated library is mostly defined as that of a special library, whose collections are mainly intended to serve the museums. In order to cooperate with the development of museums, affiliated libraries make their collections effectively and supportively, which includes museum research studies, exhibitions, collections, education promotion, cultural and creative marketing and so forth. In addition, the library must handle appropriately its own technology, circulation and reader service, such as the purchase of books and periodicals, book classification and cataloguing, book borrowing, the service of readers' references and consultancy, varieties of book collections, and the exchange of gifts and book transactions among libraries. It is therefore not an exaggeration to say that affiliated libraries are backroom operations. The way of actively presenting the value of affiliated libraries ought to be the most significant meaning for museum libraries, and it should also be a pivotal issue of concern. It is to be hoped that staff in museum libraries who are at the same time, museum staff and librarians, can create their work value and a sense of achievement.